Who is the ChiefHomeOfficer?

YOU are - or anyone who works from home. Whether you're a full-time 1099er, a corporate teleworking W-2er, a part-time eBayer, or any head-of-household handling family, finances and affairs from a corner desk - and in search of a little balance in the home office, then ChiefHomeOfficer's your destination.
Think of Chief Home Officer.com as LifeHacker meets the home office - no matter what home office you run. Entrepreneurs will discover SOHO 2.0 business insight. Teleworkers will learn leading-edge remote work strategies. will spot tips, tales and links on balance. And those considering making the leap into home officing will unearth equal parts reality and validation. Explore. Learn. Return.

The SOHO Sherpa…

ChiefHomeOfficer is your SOHO Sherpa - a guide to all the things that make the Small Or Home Office (SOHO) work. Since 1993, we've chronicled the work-at-home adventure. Today, the site offers honest and occasionally humorous insights, tips, tech/product reviews, and commentary that cut through the "Make Millions From Home" promise and just lay down the real skinny on a lifestyle people can work and live with.

Want to learn more? If you work from home, want to, or are a corporate marketer hoping to talk to those who do, email jeff [at] chiefhomeofficer dot com or dial 954-346-4393.

Meta

Whether you’re a general consumer or a home-business owner using social media from your home office, privacy issues on Facebook have lately become a huge concern. Most folks don’t realize a few easy tweaks to your account can significantly reduce threats both obvious and not-so-obvious.

Marc Itzkowitz, senior director of Product Marketing for Support.com, offers this guest post on the good and a bad use of Facebook. While it and other social media offers fun for millions, it also offers a new and efficient method for the wrong folks find out much more about you than they should.

Facebook provides ways to reduce these threats — they’re not so easy to find or understand. To make sure that Facebook does not present a “Clear and Present Danger” to your personal privacy, address these five key vulnerabilities:

Many home-based businesses operate on a shoe-string budget — often to their detriment. They could use an extra set of hands. But in many cities and municipalities, code prohibits non-relative employees. In those places where non-relatives are allowed to work in a home office, the owners are rightfully suspicious or downright concerned about inviting ‘strangers’ into the home.

Considering hiring business employees or domestic help for cleaning, cooking, or childcare services? Then a proper and thorough background check is vital to helping ensure a safe and secure home. This guest post discusses five steps to follow:

Millions of Americans operate businesses from the comfort of their homes. For many, the benefits of working from home relate more to lifestyle than money. However, many people already working from a home office — even as a teleworker — overlook the potential tax benefits that come from working at home.

The following post from mortgage researcher Phil Green highlights five of the most prominent potential tax deductions for individuals working out of their homes (it is not from ChiefHomeOfficer.com; any information or inaccuracies provided are the responsibility of the author).

One keen bit of advice from Phil: In considering these or any possible tax benefits, consult with a tax professional. Tax laws are complex, as there are often exceptions to the exceptions to the rule. And tax regulations change all the time. Getting a professional to advise you on how these deductions can help minimize your tax liability is imperative.

Launching a small or home-based business can be daunting. Even opening a home office for a teleworker can present challenges. Small business owners often struggle because the demands of running the company often leave little time to focus on other important aspects that can affect the financial well-being of the business and its owner, including insurance, compensation, benefits and retirement planning. Engaging advisors, even at this earliest stage, may help you avoid liability and financial struggles later on.

Below are four questions to ask your advisors; look for more conversation starters at The Hartford.

- What type of insurance do I need as an emerging business? Business owners often tell us their decision to buy insurance came when they realized they had created something worth protecting. An insurance agent who works with small businesses can help you identify your needs.

Think about what you want to protect. Health insurance is important, and protection for equipment or property is obvious, but how about loss of income? Business income coverage provides funds to help the business continue as it recovers from a loss.

Entrepreneur and small business advisor Dawn Lambros is asked constantly by all kinds of people, “what are the steps to starting a successful business?” Her reply: The steps are not as hard as you may think.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a business, but you’re just not sure of what you need to do, try following these 10 steps. If followed properly, they’re guaranteed to put you on the road to success!

1. Create a Life Plan: What do you want to be, do have when you grow up? While this may sound condescending, it’s not meant to be that way! If you want to start a business, make sure your heart is in it. It should be something you feel happy doing. Once you find that desired business, create a life plan around it (not to be confused with a business plan).